KCU Partners with Kansas City Track Club to Raise Funds for Underinsured Health Care

For the third consecutive year, the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) served as the naming sponsor and host site for the Cliff Hanger Run, which raised $9,200 to benefit Northeast Neighbor to Neighbor, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing health care to underserved residents in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast Neighborhood. The event — now in its 30th year — was produced and underwritten by the Kansas City Track Club, and attracted more than 950 individuals on Nov. 1 who participated in either a 5k or 8k run along the neighborhood’s scenic Cliff Drive.

Members of KCU’s Fit Doctors Association partnered with children from Scuola Vita Nuova and Gladstone Elementary to train for the Cliff Hanger Run. Approximately 30 of the elementary students who participated in the six-week, after-school training program ran the 5k alongside KCU students. Each child sported a new pair of running shoes provided by the University. Nearly 100 other KCU students, faculty and staff signed up to run or volunteer on campus.

“I could not be more proud of the KCU students, faculty and staff, as well as the Kansas City community, who work together to make the Cliff Hanger Run a reality each year,” said Marc B. Hahn, DO, president and CEO of KCU. “Our students’ work with local elementary students is a testament to our mission at KCU, and I look forward to many successful Cliff Hanger Runs in the future.”

Each year, KCU students dedicate more than 10,000 hours to serving others in the Kansas City area and around the world. Partnering with Scuola Vita Nuova and Gladstone Elementary to inspire healthy and positive habits in young students through mentorship is just one way KCU strives to fulfill the university’s mission of “improving the well-being of the communities we serve.”